Name in Japanese C Clever

Clever in Japanese

クレバー
Katakana
クレバー
Hiragana
くればー
Romaji (Hepburn)
Kurebā

This is the common, natural katakana for Clever. Katakana approximates English sounds, so a slightly different spelling can also be valid — treat this as a reliable default, not the single "correct" answer.

How Clever sounds in Japanese

Read it one katakana at a time:

Ku
Re
バー

Full reading: Kurebā

Do more with Clever in Japanese

Why Clever is written in katakana

In Japanese, foreign names are written in katakana — the angular script reserved for words borrowed from other languages. So on a form, a name tag, a delivery slip or a news article in Japan, Clever appears as クレバー. This is the correct and respectful way a non-Japanese name is represented; it is not a kanji "translation". A Japanese reader sees クレバー and immediately reads it by its sound, Kurebā.

Katakana is a syllabary, so English sounds are fitted to the nearest Japanese syllables and every consonant (except ん) is followed by a vowel. That is why Clever becomes クレバー rather than a letter-for-letter copy. More than one katakana spelling can be reasonable for the same name, which is why we flag whether a spelling is a long-established one or a natural default.